


Let the Spectrum In

by crystalesbian



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Hair Braiding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 01:51:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5725303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalesbian/pseuds/crystalesbian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Say my name</i><br/><i>And every color illuminates</i><br/><i>We are shining</i><br/><i>And we will never be afraid again</i><br/>-<br/>A collection of Octavia/Maya ficlets set post-season 2, wherein Maya survives Mount Weather and is brought back to live in Camp Jaha. Non-sequential.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let the Spectrum In

When Maya is finally released from the airlock, Octavia watches her closely, studies her. She walks through Camp Jaha like a ghost, silently moving through the camp, trying to call as little attention to herself as possible. It’s no use. Everyone’s eyes and whispers follow the Mount Weather girl who went against her people and came out the sole survivor. For the first few weeks, whenever she goes out into the open, she’s gawked at like a sideshow exhibit. Most of the people in the camp have decided it’s their place to form an opinion about her without speaking a word to her, looking at her with everything ranging from mistrust to fascination. Octavia doesn’t blame Maya for keeping her distance from most of the sky people, who she must feel treat her more like an urban legend than a real person.

Octavia remembers feeling similarly not so long ago.

So it’s fairly easy for Octavia to understand why Maya doesn’t talk to anyone much at first. What she can’t quite seem to figure out is why someone who was kept underground all their life spends so little time outside. Maya confines herself to her tent most days, never taking any time to explore the grounds, though both Jasper and Octavia offer to show her around more than once.

After a few weeks, however, all that changes. Maya still hardly talks to anyone, but every afternoon she wanders outside to somewhere near the edge of camp, and just sits. Looks. Rests. She gets a sunburn after her first day spent outside, but still continues doing the same thing for the next few days. She chooses a different spot every time, which Octavia guesses is so no one can find her quite so easily.

Octavia finds Maya one afternoon sitting in a shady spot at the Southeast edge of camp, and makes her way over to her.

“Hey,” Octavia says, squatting next to her in the grass. Maya doesn’t look up. “Jasper’s looking for you.”

Maya’s only response is a long, resigned sigh as she turns her eyes back to the ground.

“I know. But you have to talk to him eventually.”

A long, careful minute passes in silence before Maya mutters, “I don’t really feel like talking to anyone. If it’s any consolation.”

Octavia nods once, solemnly, and settles down on the grass, throwing her head back to look at the sky. When she looks back at Maya, she’s looking up too. “It’s so blue, isn’t it?” Octavia says. “Before I got down here, I never imagined it’d be this blue.”

Maya bites her lip, then says, “It’s all of it, really. I’d seen paintings, photographs of what the outside was supposed to look like, but… I didn’t expect the colors to be so bright. So… glaring.” She shakes her head, and when she looks back at Octavia, she sees tears welling up in Maya’s eyes. “Would you think I was a horrible person if… if I told you it makes me kind of sick?”

It all makes sense then, and Octavia feels dense for not seeing it sooner. Everything about the earth above ground is nothing more than a cruel reminder of the sacrifice it took for them to be sitting here now. “Why are you out here then?” she asks, though she already knows the answer.

Maya blinks back tears and hangs her head low, and lets out a sound akin to a sob. Her shoulders are shaking.

“Maya,” Octavia says softly, and reaches out to her, smoothing her down her hair, “You don’t have to punish yourself.”

Maya leans into Octavia’s shoulder and Octavia can feel just how much her whole body is trembling. After a minute Maya begins sobbing freely, and it’s the first time Octavia has seen Maya cry since the first day she spent in her cell. Since then, she’s kept her tears hidden from everyone, but Octavia can sometimes hear her sobs when she passes by her tent. Octavia holds Maya like that for a long while until the sobs start to subside, and Maya speaks tentatively. “Can I ask you something?”

Octavia nods.

“You said on the ark, you didn’t have a view either. I never got the chance to ask what you meant by that.”

Octavia sighs. “It’s not exactly a happy story.”

“I don’t mind,” Maya says, “But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, I will. Here,” Octavia says, taking Maya’s head in her hands and shifting so that her head is resting in Octavia’s lap.

“Grass is a lot softer than I thought it would be,” Maya muses.

Octavia hums in agreement, running her fingers through Maya’s wild hair, separating it into strands. “I’ll tell you the story if you let me braid your hair. Deal?”

When Maya smiles, it’s the first time Octavia has seen her do so since— well, since ever. “Deal.”


End file.
